The Hobbit: Illustrated by the Author

Product Information

For the first time ever, a beautiful slipcased edition of the enchanting prelude to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout with over 50 sketches, drawings, paintings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien himself, with the complete text printed in two colours and with many bonus features unique to this edition. I present only a singular critique of this film and it has nothing to do with the body of the movie itself: I feel compelled to comment that the decision to incorporate the endless scroll of Tolkien Fan Club members' names within the end credits is ill-advised and indirectly demeaning to the actual cast and crew. What do these people actually contribute to the film's production? Loyalty and moral support? The folks who have indeed delivered something more tangible are appropriately noted elsewhere within the credits. But most of the listed individuals have played no real part whatever, regardless of the syrupy patronization conducted by the film-makers toward this particular faction of Tolkien enthusiasts. Including these names in the film credits, which also takes in the so-called self-appointed "guardians" of Tolkien's work [a trivial minority of Tolkien Fan Club members], amounts to little more than a shallow ego-bribe. It's presumptuous as the devil to assert that Tolkien's books *need* guarding by anyone -- the affiliation here is more akin to pretentious posthumous tail-gating on the venerable Old Master. Por fim, Tolkien mostra-se habilidoso na técnica de produzir tempo e espaço com palavras. “O Hobbit” é um conto de aventura e viagem, e para descrever uma viagem é preciso fazer com que a distância entre os diferentes cenários deixe-se sentir por mais do que palavras indicativas de lapso temporal (“três dias”) ou espacial (“trinta milhas”). It could also include miscellaneous pieces (with obvious thematic connections) like “Water, Wind & Sand” Ulmo wrote:I dunno. It’s kind of fun that they started with the “illustrated” concept, and tried out to see what they could pull off by stretching the concept to its limits. Even without the illustrations, these books are an attractive format, which people are obviously (I would say) buying. So let’s see if we can stretch the definition further, with a little imagination…

In October of 1936, Tolkien delivered to his publisher the manuscript of The Hobbit, in which he included more than 100 illustrations — Tolkien, unbeknownst to many, was a rather gifted and prolific artist. These manuscript drawings were recently released in The Art of the Hobbit ( public library) — a magnificent volume celebrating the 75th anniversary of The Hobbit with 110 beautiful, many never-before-seen illustrations by Tolkien, ranging from pencil sketches to ink line drawings to watercolors. When Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves embark upon a dangerous quest to reclaim the hoard of gold stolen from them by the evil dragon Smaug, Gandalf the wizard suggests an unlikely accomplice: Bilbo Baggins, an unassuming Hobbit dwelling in peaceful Hobbiton.Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a band of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Although quite reluctant to take part in this quest, Bilbo surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and his skill as a burglar! I dunno. It’s kind of fun that they started with the “illustrated” concept, and tried out to see what they could pull off by stretching the concept to its limits. Even without the illustrations, these books are an attractive format, which people are obviously (I would say) buying. So let’s see if we can stretch the definition further, with a little imagination…

For the first time ever, a special enhanced edition of the enchanting prelude to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout with over 50 sketches, drawings, paintings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and with the complete text printed in two colours. The tale of the little hobbit on a big adventure was first read by the professor to his children as part of their winter “reads,” using his “home manuscript” of the story. Imagine hearing the tale told to you by its author, spun from golden yarn as he wove the adventure for you thread by thread? Christopher Tolkien recalls that special time in his foreword included in this new illustrated edition of The Hobbit, and leading Tolkien scholars Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull add that, in this “home manuscript”, Tolkien would have been free to illustrate his story using any medium he wanted to: colored pencil, chalk, crayon, ink and washes, a far cry from the restrictions imposed by the publisher on the illustrations printed in the published book. The Hobbit Illustrated will feature a forward by Christopher Tolkien, with additional notes from Tolkien scholars Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. Here’s an exclusive look at one of the spreads you’ll find in The Hobbit Illustrated:Writing about the allure of fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien famously asserted that there is no such thing as writing “for children”— that’s perhaps why his stories continue to enchant generations and attract admirers of all ages. Tolkien’s first major work, The Hobbit ( public library) — which predates his epic novel The Lord of the Rings by nearly 20 years — was published in 1937 and in the years since has drawn remarkable international acclaim. Because the story is driven by visual whimsy, it has also produced a number of vibrant illustrated editions from all around the world, beginning with Tolkien’s own artwork for the original edition, which I wrote about some years ago. Here are a few favorites. J.R.R. TOLKIEN (GREAT BRITAIN, 1937)

Originally published in 1937, The Hobbit has gone on to sell over 150 million copies over the years. It tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit and unlikely hero, who goes on a grand adventure to the lair of Smaug the Dragon. Along the way, he comes into possession of the One Ring, an accident that will have some pretty sizable consequences in the years to come, as told in The Lord of the Rings. In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. » It could be called Adventures of Tom Bombadil & other talesA collection of previously illustrated works with a few extra illustrations mixed in for padding, I could probably get behind that, because I agree the design/format is nice enough (though I'm still unsure on the green for Sil). The description for this new edition of The Hobbit shares more about what we can expect from the tome: With better than a baker's dozen of little folks in starring roles the temptation to over-incorporate moments of comic relief [vignettes of Gimli] must have rivaled the gnawing urge which only The One Ring could normally generate. While some tasteful levity fell well within the bounds of a palatable script, I did actually breathe a sigh of relief once I realized that few such incidents were forthcoming.Speaking about this, Chris Smith from HarperCollins said: “ The tale of the little hobbit on a big adventure was first read by the professor to his children as part of their winter reads, using his ‘home manuscript’ of the story. Imagine hearing the tale told to you by its author, spun from golden yarn as he wove the adventure for you, thread by thread? Christopher Tolkien recalls that special time in his foreword included in this new illustrated edition of The Hobbit, and leading Tolkien scholars Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull add that, in this ‘home manuscript’, Tolkien would have been free to illustrate his story using any medium he wanted: coloured pencil, chalk, crayon, ink and washes, a far cry from the restrictions imposed by the publisher on the illustrations printed in the published book.

HarperCollins have announced a new edition of The Hobbit, illustrated with “a greatly enhanced” gallery of 50 paintings, maps and drawings – due out on 14 September In the first of the two *The Hobbit* entries [sub-titled: *Into The Wilderness*], a more youthful Bilbo Baggins is craftily crow-barred by Gandalf into embarking upon a great adventure (Hobbits *despise* adventures!) and by serving as a burglar for a grumbly troupe of thirteen dwarves, all of whom are determined to reclaim their lost family treasure from the Evil dragon, Smaug; however, the actual battle with Smaug at the Lonely Mountain will have to wait until Part II [to be entitled: *Into the Fire*] is released. In creating the artwork for The Hobbit, Tolkien borrowed from a short story he had written for his son Michael, titled “Roverandom.”Velmeran wrote:I hope they stop the Illustrated by the Author line here though, as they already had to stretch the definition of an illustration pretty thin for The Silmarillion and I don't think there is enough material left to fill another book after this release.